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Designer Eyeglass Frames Provider Continues Its Health Tips Series

Here are the final five eye health awareness tips in our miniseries!

11. Children and Eye Problems

Because eyes change as children grow, eye tests are especially important year by year. Myopia may develop without the child or the parent noticing it, and a child who had 20/20 vision at age six may not be able to read the class whiteboard at age twelve. Farsightedness can interfere with reading a book, making reading glasses necessary. A child with astigmatism will have trouble seeing clearly both near and far. Since vision problems are often worse in one eye than the other, delaying corrective eyeglasses can result in one eye becoming dominant, while the “lazy eye” loses its ability to send a clear image to the brain. The same is true in the case of crossed eyes or a “walleye.” Children don’t outgrow these conditions, but instead lose the proper use of one eye if the problem is not corrected under the care of an ophthalmologist (see next week’s blog on the different types of eye-care specialists).

An interesting 2012 study published in the medical journal Lancet suggests that too much time indoors can cause children to become myopic. In trying to find the reason for skyrocketing rates of myopia among children in East Asia, the researchers traced the development to an excess of indoor studying. They noted that the bright light of day is needed to induce production of the retinal transmitter dopamine, which prevents elongation of the eyeball. An elongated eyeball is myopic. The beneficial light is not ultraviolet, but full-spectrum sunlight. So here’s a new reason to encourage children to get outside and play.

12. Cataracts Can Go Now

A cataract is a clumping of proteins on the eye’s lens. The cataract grows slowly and leads to cloudy, discolored, or blurred vision. If it gets bad enough, the lens can be surgically removed and replaced with an artificial lens, saving the person’s eyesight. You may know someone who had cataract surgery some years ago and had to wait until the cataract had reached an advanced stage. This precaution is no longer necessary, and a cataract may now be removed as soon as it has begun to interfere with good vision. Remember that use of sunglasses is one way to help prevent cataracts.

13. Imperfect Glasses Are Better Than None at All

You may have tried on a friend’s glasses and noticed a sort of swimmy feeling from the difference in the prescription compared to what you’re used to. A common misconception is that you need to take those glasses off quickly to avoid damaging your own eyesight. In reality, while you may develop a headache, your eyes won’t be harmed, and if you had to borrow those glasses for a while, the swimmy feeling would go away. In fact, new eyeglass wearers or people trying bifocals for the first time often take time to get used to the correction even though it is perfectly suited to their own needs.

14. Contact Lenses Are No Cure For Myopia

Just as eyes don’t get ruined by use of the wrong prescription, they don’t get fixed by the right one. Contrary to rumor, contact lenses won’t cause the lens to permanently change its shape or improve its ability to focus. Except in the cases mentioned above about children and “lazy eye,” eyeglasses and contacts help only as long as you’re wearing them.

15. Visual Impairment and Learning Disabilities Aren’t Related

Children with impaired vision may fall behind their classmates because they can’t read the board or their books. This has led to the misconception that these children have a developmental or learning disability resulting from the vision problem. However, evidence is against this supposition. While there is nothing to prevent, for example, a dyslexic person from also having myopia, the two problems are unrelated and need to be addressed separately. Any time a child struggles in school, vision, hearing, and cognition should all be assessed.

Great Looking Reading Glasses Are Just A Click Away!

Incorporate the health awareness tips outlined in this series to care for your eyesight. If you need quality reading glasses - or bifocal sunglasses - take a look at the selection we have to offer at http://www.ihearteyewear.com today!